EL8 Distressor from Empirical Labs

Hardware

Reviews

El8 Distressor -
Compressors / Limiters

Product reviews

“Every once in a while a product comes along with “classic” written all over it. And in a certain sense of the word, this product actually is a classic already.”- Barry Cleveland, MIX Magazine

“The most impressive and versatile compressor I have ever used”- Michael Brauer

“ The Distressor would be the last piece of hardware many engineers would relinquish; you’d have to pry it from their cold, dead hands, as the saying goes”- Pro Sound News

“A really good sounding vocal compressor. Guitars, Drums. Everything.

You can’t have too many Distressors.” - Tchad Blake, Tape Op Magazine

“ The Distressor is the one thing that I know I can put on everything...anything...and it’ll sound better than ever.” - Recording Magazine

“The unit is really awesome! I’ve used it on guitars, bass, room mics, vocals it works great on everything. I’ve used it on records I’ve made with Beck, U2, Etta James, Hole and lots of others. I’m about to buy a second one.”- Joe Chicarelli, Producer/Engineer

“I also like the Distressor. I have two of them, but I should have six of them. I’m going to get some more” - David Kahne, Producer

“It’s one of the most user friendly easy to read, best sounding compressors. I’ve had for ages, There’s nowhere I wouldn’t use it!”- Mike Keating, FOH Engineer-Sting Tour

Can
new technology really emulate vintage equipment, or do you have to use
vintage parts? PAUL WHITE tests a modern compressor that claims
chameleon-like abilities to emulate classic compression sounds.

At
one time, it seemed as though all the black arts of audio design were
focused on digital reverb algorithms, but in the latter half of the
'90s, most of the mystique appears to have shifted over to compressors.
Nowadays, those vintage compressors, often cooked up by hand in the
early days of recording, are valued more than the latest models that,
ostensibly, have benefited from over two decades of design experience
and high-spec modern components. Even those building modern compressors
seem to be aiming for a version of the old sound. One such compressor
is the USA-designed Distressor, a VCA soft-knee compressor with a few
unusual twists, including tube and tape distortion emulation. The
signal path is pure analogue, but much of the control circuitry is
digital.

Because the Distressor features so many user-adjustable
options, the designers have dispensed with conventional switching in
order to save panel space. Instead, they've used a very simple set of
buttons which allows you to cycle around the various options by
repeatedly pressing the appropriate button until you get what you want.
Each option is clearly indicated by an LED, so you always know exactly
where you are. Digital control circuitry is used to manage the
switching, and a gold capacitor can keep the on-board memory going for
up to a month to store your last-used switch settings. For indefinite
storage, two batteries can be fitted inside the case.

The
Distressor is a single-channel compressor packaged in a 1U-high box,
with rear-panel sockets and a front-panel switch setting for stereo
linking, should this be required. Audio connection is via both balanced
XLRs and unbalanced jacks, but there's no separate side-chain input.
Instead of a threshold control, the unit has a set internal threshold
and a variable input-gain control, so turning up the gain increases the
amount of your signal that rises above the threshold, and thus the
amount of compression which will be applied. A 16-LED gain-reduction
meter shows by exactly how much you're reducing your signal peaks.
Manual controls are also fitted for Attack, Release and Output, and all
four knobs are suitably large and dated-looking, with interesting
calibration marks around the edge. You'll notice that there's no ratio
control, and that's because the ratios are switchable in steps rather
than being fully variable. There are seven ratios, from 1:1 to 20:1,
with a further setting simply called Nuke -- a brick-wall limiter. The
reason for including a 1:1 setting is so that you can still use the
distortion facilities when you don't need compression. Pressing the
Ratio button steps through the available settings, each of which has
its own status LED. Nuke gets a blue LED, just to be cool! Bypass is a
separate, dedicated button and operates a hard relay bypass, routing
the input signal directly to the output connectors.

CONTROLS

A
button labelled Audio Modes sits below three LEDs dedicated to a
high-pass filter and two distortion types. Pressing the button allows
you to cycle through the possible combinations of the high-pass filter
and Dist 2, Dist 3 or Distortion off. The high-pass filter has a gentle
characteristic and comes in at around 80Hz to attenuate what the manual
calls "the mud frequencies".

Distortion mode 2 adds predominantly
second-harmonic distortion, in relatively small amounts (around 3%), to
produce what we generally describe as warmth; the process is analogous
to what you'd expect from an overdriven class-A valve stage. Dist 3
aims to add third-harmonic distortion to produce the kind of
symmetrical distortion you hear when tape (or a class-B amp stage) is
driven into saturation. A couple of warning LEDs come on at 0.25% THD
and 3% THD or more, to help in setting up, and the amount of distortion
is determined by how much compression is being used, and by the attack
setting of the compressor.

"If you believe only tube technology
can deliver the true classic sound, a few minutes spent using the
Distressor might cause you to rethink your positon."

The settings
of the Distressor's Detector Modes, as the name suggests, affect how
the side-chain responds to programme material. In addition to feeding
the signal flat (unchanged) to the side-chain, it's possible to put in
a high-pass filter, to prevent low frequencies from modulating the high
end, and also to patch in a 6kHz band-emphasis filter, a less common
option. This makes the compressor react more strongly to frequencies in
the 6kHz area of the spectrum, and can help take the edge off
aggressive guitar parts or other problem sounds, as well as reducing
sibilance. As the filter is in the side-chain, no EQ is applied to the
processed signal -- only gain reduction. Pressing the Detector Mode
button repeatedly allows you to step around the eight logical
permutations of flat, the two filters and stereo linking. Both filters
may be used together if needed.

Two jack leads are required to
link a pair of Distressors for stereo use, and the manual suggests that
you can fool the unit into giving you extra distortion by selecting
stereo link, but not patching in a second unit. This halves the
side-chain signal by averaging the input with the non-existent channel
2 signal. The result would be higher signal levels, for those times
when only grunge will do!

DISTRESSING TIMES

Now that we've
dispensed with the theory, no doubt you'd like to know how the
Distressor stacks up -- after all, at over ?1200 and with only one
channel, it needs to be something special.

Despite the slightly
unfamiliar switching system, setting up is as simple as using a
conventional compressor, and the only thing I rather missed was an
output level meter. It soon becomes obvious that this compressor wants
to be heard, and it's probably at its best adding smack to kick drums,
thickness and attack to bass guitars, and solidity to vocals. On a
complex mix, you have to be more sparing, and for routine dynamic range
control you can usually get away with far less sophisticated devices.
If you want pumping, a fast attack and release will deliver it
instantly, but the best results are obtained with longer attack times,
which really emphasise the percussive nature of sounds in a very
positive way. Particularly impressive is the recommended setting for
emulating opto-compressors -- you simply pick the 10:1 ratio, then set
the longest attack possible and the fastest release. This simulates the
characteristically slow attack and fast release of compressors based on
lamps and photocells, creating a rich, attacking sound with no obvious
gain pumping.

Experimenting with the distortion settings is
interesting, and I'm glad to discover that the effects are subtle --
some modern valve gear, in particular, places too much emphasis on
deliberate distortion, and with some material the intermodulation
products sound horrible. With the Distressor all you get is a gentle
change in timbre -- unless you really push Dist 3 to the limit, in
which case things can turn a touch crunchy. There's no separate control
for setting the amount of distortion you get, and the amber light
usually stays off unless the gain-reduction meter starts to show a few
dBs of compression. To make the red light come on you have to use a
longer attack time, so that the peaks sneak through and get caught by
the distortion circuit, and on sound sources like snare drum, high
levels of compression and distortion, in combination, can create a
really 'smacky' sound. Dist 2 is rather more subtle and works well on
vocals, adding a silky sheen to what is already a very nice sound.

If
you're not sure what settings to use, pick a ratio somewhere in the
middle of the range, set all the controls mid-way, then adjust the
input-gain control until you have sufficient gain reduction showing on
the meter. This results in a fine general-purpose 'vanilla' setting
that makes a good starting point for further adjustment. As the manual
rightly says, it's very difficult to make this compressor sound bad,
but there's still plenty of adjustment range if you're after something
out of the ordinary.

SUMMARY

Don't be put off by the
Distressor's slightly quirky switching system, because it really isn't
a problem, and it does provide access to a lot of features without
requiring a front panel covered with switches. The rather chunky (some
might say unsophisticated) panel graphics help you to see exactly what
the controls are doing, even when you're not right on top of the
machine, and the LED status readout is exceptionally clear.

As
for the sound, it definitely picks up on what's good about vintage
compressors and exploits it shamelessly. The opto-compressor emulation
is very convincing, and the optional distortion settings work well,
providing you're discerning about what sounds you apply distortion to.
For adding weight and 'angst' to bass instruments and kick drums, I can
think of few compressors more able, and if you're one of those people
who believe only tube technology can deliver the true classic sound, a
few minutes spent using the Distressor might cause you to rethink your
position.